With the Hokies losing potential first round pick Carson DeMartini, All-American Ben Watson, Chris Cannazzaro, and Eddie Micheletti Jr from their lineup, the Hokies are looking to add some more power around their returners including Garrett Michel and Clay Grady. Well the Hokies have done just that landing a commitment from Mercer power-hitting OF Jackson Cherry.
Congrats to @JacksonCherry9 on his commitment to Virginia Tech!! The Hokies are getting a good one here. #teamoverme pic.twitter.com/0F5Iu5Hgpx
— JF Baseball (@JFcavsbaseball) June 12, 2024
Cherry chose the Hokies over interest from Miami, Louisville, Notre Dame, Texas Tech, Coastal Carolina, VCU, Liberty, Old Dominion, JMU, and more. The Mercer OF has one year of eligibility remaining.
Cherry has been a run-producing season the past two seasons at Mercer. In 2023, he earned All-SoCon Second Team honors after having a .339 batting average with 12 home runs and 27 RBIs in only 39 games. He followed that up this season by having a .290 batting average with 18 home runs and 54 RBIs. His slugging percentage has exceeded .630 each of the past two seasons while his on-base percentage has been above .390 in 2023 and 2024.
There's no doubt that Cherry adds plenty of firepower to the Hokies' offense and should slot right in the middle slots of the lineup with Michel. He could end up at either a corner outfield spot or as the Hokies' designated hitter though a corner outfield spot seems more likely so that the Hokies can get both of their returning catchers Henry Cooke and David McCann in the lineup. Cherry isn't the only outfield transfer as he joins Radford's Cameron Pittman who will be the Hokies' starting center fielder and likely leadoff hitter.
One area of potential concern for Cherry is the fact that he had a notable batting average drop from .339 to .290 and had 62 strikeouts last season over the course of 54 games. However, the power part of his game should definitely translate to the challenges of the ACC.
This is also a homecoming of sorts as Cherry returns to his home state of Virginia, originally being from Forest, VA and playing his high school baseball at Jefferson Forest HS.
